Image Forming Apparatus, Program Updating System, and Program Updating Program

1. An image forming apparatus capable of communicating with a server storing a plurality of kinds of update programs together with update information indicating update conditions for each of a plurality of kinds of functions executed by the image forming apparatus, comprising: a program storage memory to store an execution program; a function execution portion to execute said stored execution program and execute at least one of the plurality of kinds of functions; a performance storage portion, when any of said plurality of kinds of functions is executed by the image forming apparatus, to store performance information regarding execution of the function for each of said plurality of kinds of functions executed by the image forming apparatus so that the performance information stored by the performance storage portion indicates an execution history for each of said plurality of kinds of functions; a determination portion to select, based on said performance information and said update information stored in said server, a target program from among said plurality of kinds of update programs stored in said server, wherein the determination portion selects the target program by evaluating the execution history for each of said plurality of kinds of functions having the update conditions indicated in the update information; and an updating portion to acquire said selected target program and update said execution program stored in said program storage memory with said acquired target program.

2. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said determination portion selects one of said plurality of kinds of update programs in which a portion related to said function included in said performance information is updated as said target program.

3. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said performance information includes a frequency of execution of said function, and said determination portion selects one of said plurality of kinds of update programs in which a portion related to said function for which said frequency in said performance information is not less than a prescribed value is updated, as said target program.

4. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising a warning portion to refer to said update information when an instruction to execute said function is accepted, and output a warning if there is any update program among said plurality of kinds of update programs in which a portion related to said function for which the execution was instructed is updated.

5. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said performance information includes defect information associating defect identification information specifying a defect that occurred when said function was executed with the function, and said determination portion selects one of said plurality of kinds of update programs in which a portion related to said function associated with said defect identification information included in said defect information is updated, as said target program.

6. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said update information includes urgency information indicating a degree of urgency of updating for each of said plurality of kinds of update programs, and said determination portion selects one of said plurality of kinds of update programs corresponding to said urgency information indicating a prescribed degree of urgency as said target program, regardless of said performance information.

7. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said updating portion updates said execution program stored in said program storage memory with said selected target program at a prescribed timing.

8. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , further comprising: a performance information collection portion to acquire, from another image forming apparatus, performance information regarding an event that said other image forming apparatus has executed any of said plurality of kinds of functions; and a performance information updating portion to update said performance information stored in said performance storage portion with said performance information acquired from said other image forming apparatus.

9. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein said performance information includes information indicating that said function was executed.

10. An image forming apparatus capable of communicating with a server storing a plurality of kinds of update programs together with update information including an updated state of each of a plurality of kinds of functions, comprising: a program storage memory to store an execution program; a function execution portion to read said stored execution program and execute at least one of the plurality of kinds of functions; a performance storage portion, when any of said plurality of kinds of functions is executed by the image forming apparatus, to store performance information regarding execution of the function for each of said plurality of kinds of functions executed by the image forming apparatus so that the performance information stored by the performance storage portion indicates an execution history for each of said plurality of kinds of functions; a performance information transmission portion to transmit version information of said execution program stored in said program storage memory and said performance information to said server; a reception portion, in response to transmission of said performance information, to receive from said server a target program selected from among said plurality of kinds of update programs stored in said server; and an updating portion to update said execution program stored in said program storage memory with said received target program.

11. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising: an update information reception portion to receive said update information from said server; an instruction accepting portion to accept an instruction to execute a function; a determination portion to determine, based on said update information, whether a portion in said execution program related to said function specified by said accepted instruction is updated; and a warning portion to output a warning when said determination portion determines that said portion is not updated.

12. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 , wherein said updating portion updates said execution program stored in said program storage memory with said received target program at a prescribed timing.

13. The image forming apparatus according to claim 10 , further comprising: a performance information collection portion to acquire, from another image forming apparatus, performance information regarding an event that said other image forming apparatus has executed any of said plurality of kinds of functions, to acquire performance information regarding execution of said function from said other image forming apparatus; and a performance information updating portion to update said performance information stored in said performance storage portion with said performance information acquired from said other image forming apparatus.

14. A program updating system including a server having a memory storing a plurality of kinds of update programs together with update information including an updated state of each of a plurality of kinds of functions, and an image forming apparatus capable of communicating with the server, said image forming apparatus comprising: a program storage portion to store an execution program; a function execution portion to read said stored execution program and execute at least one of the plurality of kinds of functions; a performance storage portion, when any of said plurality of kinds of functions is executed by the image forming apparatus, to store performance information regarding execution of the function for each of said plurality of kinds of functions executed by the image forming apparatus so that the performance information stored by the performance storage portion indicates an execution history for each of said plurality of kinds of functions; a performance information transmission portion to transmit version information of said execution program stored in said program storage portion and said performance information to said server; a reception portion, in response to transmission of said performance information, to receive from said server a target program selected from among said plurality of kinds of update programs stored in said server; and an updating portion to update said execution program stored in said program storage portion with said received target program; and said server comprising: a determination portion to determine said target program from among said plurality of kinds of update programs based on said performance information received from said image forming apparatus and said update information; and a transmission portion to transmit said determined target program to said image forming apparatus.

15. The program updating system according to claim 14 , wherein said determination portion determines one of said plurality of kinds of update programs in which a portion related to said function included in said performance information is updated as said target program.

16. The program updating system according to claim 14 , wherein said performance storage portion further stores defect information including identification information specifying a defect that occurred when said function was executed, and said determination portion determines one of said plurality of kinds of update programs in which a portion related to said function associated with said defect information is updated as said target program.

17. The program updating system according to claim 14 , wherein said update information includes urgency information indicating a degree of urgency of updating for each of said plurality of kinds of update programs, and said determination portion determines one of said plurality of kinds of update programs corresponding to said update information that includes said urgency information indicating a prescribed degree of urgency as said target program, regardless of said performance information.

18. A program updating program stored in a non-transitory computer readable recording medium for an image forming apparatus capable of communicating with a server storing a plurality of kinds of update programs corresponding respectively to a plurality of kinds of functions together with update information indicating update conditions for each of a plurality of kinds of functions, said image forming apparatus including a program storage portion to store an execution program, the program updating program being embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium for causing said image forming apparatus to execute processing comprising the steps of: reading said stored execution program and executing at least one of the plurality of kinds of functions; when any of said plurality of kinds of functions is executed, storing performance information regarding execution of the function so that the performance information stored by the performance storage portion indicates an execution history for each of said plurality of kinds of functions; selecting, based on said performance information and said update information stored in said server, a target program from among said plurality of kinds of update programs stored in said server, wherein the selection is made by evaluating the execution history for each of said plurality of kinds of functions having update conditions indicated in the update information; and acquiring said determined target program and updating said execution program stored in said program storage portion with said acquired target program.

19. A program updating program stored in a non-transitory computer readable recording medium for an image forming apparatus capable of communicating with a server storing a plurality of kinds of update programs corresponding respectively to a plurality of kinds of functions together with update information, said image forming apparatus including a program storage portion to store an execution program, the program updating program being embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium for causing said image forming apparatus to execute processing comprising the steps of: reading said stored execution program and executing at least one of the plurality of kinds of functions; when any of said plurality of kinds of functions is executed, storing performance information regarding execution of the function so that the performance information stored by the performance storage portion indicates an execution history for each of said plurality of kinds of functions; transmitting version information of said execution program stored in said program storage portion and said performance information to said server; in response to transmission of said performance information, receiving from said server a target program selected from among said plurality of kinds of update programs stored in said server; and updating said execution program stored in said program storage portion with said received target program.

20. The image forming apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the determination portion selects the target program by evaluating the execution history only for each of said plurality of kinds of functions having update conditions indicated in the update information stored in the server.